Arena Magazine articles from February 2001

Arena Magazine archives from February 2001

FEDERATION AND ALL THAT.(Australia)
February 1, 2001... NATION-BUILDING IN A POST-NATIONAL CULTURE No one seemed to be very surprised when the New Year's Federation celebrations turned out to be something of a fizzer -- an underwhelming gathering of besuited worthies attended by small numbers...

ADDICTED TO WAR.(United States' military involvement in colombia)
February 1, 2001... THE NEW US AID PACKAGE FUELS COLOMBIA'S COUNTER-INSURGENCY WAR, ARGUES JOSEPH RASO During the course of the West's Gulf War assault on Iraq, then US President George Bush heralded a `new world order' characterised by global peace led by...

ACCUMULATION VS. SOVEREIGNTY.(monetary unions)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... CURRENCY UNIFICATION AND THE SPREAD OF DOLLARISATION The headline of the Australian Financial Review of 13 September 2000 read `RBA backs currency union'. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia has come out in support of Australia...

FEELING LUCKY?(gambling industry)
February 1, 2001... QUESTIONING AUSTRALIA'S GAMBLING ECONOMY The gambling industry is an enthusiastic proponent of the theory that Australians love to gamble and that this country's gambling laws simply reflect a unique Australian gambling instinct. But the...

ITALY -- THE BALD EAGLE HAS LANDED.(politics)
February 1, 2001... US-STYLE POLITICS IS OVERWHELMING LEFT-WING POLITICAL CULTURE Although it was never in government, the Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) was for many years the largest and most powerful party in Italy. Following its rebirth as the Democrats...

ON NOT SPEAKING.(understanding of homosexuality)
February 1, 2001... WHO CAN REPRESENT GAY IDENTITIES? Two examples: Recently a bitter debate has raged on the website of Asia/Pacific Rainbow, a list that was established to promote discussion between individuals and groups who identify as non-heterosexual (as...

IN THE PHILIPPINES: ESTRADA AND AFTER.(college teacher Walden Bello)(Interview)
February 1, 2001... INTERVIEW WITH WALDEN BELLO Walden Bello is the director of Focus on the Global South, and Professor of Sociology and Public Administration at the University of the Philippines. He was involved in the Estrada Resign movement. This...

RISKING LINGUISTIC GENOCIDE.(closing of bilingual education programs in Northern Territory of Australia)
February 1, 2001... CLOSURE OF NORTHERN TERRITORY BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS HAS A DAMAGING IMPACT Nganimpa karnalu-jana kurdu-kurdu ngukurrdurr--nyina pina jarrinjaku wangkanjaku Warlpiriki manu English-ki Warlpirji ngulaju karnalu kamparru-wana jaru...

OPEN SOURCE; THE NEW, NEW ECONOMY.
February 1, 2001... CAN CAPITALISM SURVIVE THE INFORMATION AGE? The first company to have assets topping five hundred million dollars is currently wiping off its face an embarrassing slosh of egg, appropriately dinosaur-sized. Microsoft has enlisted the aid of...

LETTERS AND DEBATE.
February 1, 2001... FRANK STILWELL FALLING DOLLAR: RISING ANXIETY The substantial fall in the value of the Australian dollar has important implications. For most of us it may seem remote from our everyday lives. Only those who are speculating in...

ENOUGH ROPE.(quotations)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Where important people hang themselves with their own words... THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD `It really is the front row and you are surrounded by monied people who enjoy nice things, people who know how to behave.' Sydney Real...

THE POLITICS OF AUSTRALIAN FUNDAMENTALISM.(John Howard)
February 1, 2001... REFLECTIONS ON THE RULE OF AYATOLLAH JOHNNY Introduction To say that John Howard is on the extreme right of the Liberal Party, or that he represents a conservative cultural backlash against what he and his supporters perceive as the...

INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS.(using the Internet for self-diagnosis of health problems)
February 1, 2001... INTERNET SELF-DIAGNOSIS IS REDEFINING HEALTH If you watch enough TV you will soon come to the conclusion that illness is not going to be troubling human beings for much longer. The cure for every disease seems to lie just around the corner,...

HIGH-TECH COLONIALISM.(Human Genome Research Project)
February 1, 2001... INDIGENOUS PEOPLE QUESTION THE ETHICS OF THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT The Human Genome Research Project is a worldwide effort to analyse the structure of human DNA by determining the location of the estimated 100,000 genes in the human genome...

AN EXTREME COSTUME BALL ... IS THAT IT?(global protest movements)
February 1, 2001... THE SPECTACLE OF GLOBAL PROTEST MOVEMENTS Two people dressed in elaborate carnival costumes sat thirty feet above the roadway, perched on scaffolding contraptions that were covered by huge hoop skirts. The police standing by had no idea...

CONSUMING SOCIAL JUSTICE.(fair trade)
February 1, 2001... SHOPPING FOR FAIR-TRADE CHIC Drinking a cup of justice... And Justice can taste outstanding. Advertisement for fairly traded gourmet coffee A growing number of consumer products in core regions of the global economy are designed...

Belonging: Australians, Place and Aboriginal Ownership.(Review)
February 1, 2001... Peter Read, Belonging: Australians, Place and Aboriginal Ownership, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000. I read this book on hot afternoons, sitting on the steep, grassy slopes or rough picnic benches overlooking the bend in the...

Academic Success and Social Power: Examinations and Inequality.(Review)
February 1, 2001... Richard Teese, Academic Success and Social Power: Examinations and Inequality, Carlton South, Melbourne University Press, 2000. Every fifth teacher in charge of a high school matriculation mathematics class in 1963 had never passed an...

REACTING TO BACH.(Johann Sebastian Bach)
February 1, 2001... J.S. AS NEUTRALISED CULTURAL MONUMENT The annual arts circus that is the Melbourne Festival, last year made a special feature of celebrating the work of one man: Johann Sebastian Bach, born 1685, died 1750. In the words of Festival Director...

GLOBALISATION SHOOTS HOME.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... My chairs hadn't been selling as steadily as they once did. When the retailer told me they were `too expensive', I felt the sour breath of globalisation blowing close to home. Along with other local artisans I had sold my work through this shop...